Yorkshire was the cradle of the building society movement. At the end of 2008 it looked as if it could be its grave, too.
Within a few months two of the biggest former mutuals, which had converted into banks in the 1990s, disappeared. Bradford & Bingley (B&B) was nationalised and Halifax Bank of Scotland taken over by Lloyds to prevent its failure. The Barnsley, a small mutual, was rescued by the Yorkshire after depositing £10m ($15m) with Icelandic banks and Skipton building society acquired the ailing Scarborough, based on the north Yorkshire coast.
